Thanapara Swallows Development Society

Thanapara Swallows Development Society empowers rural women through fair trade, handloom and crafts improving livelihoods and preserving tradition in Bangladesh. During the liberation period in 1971, this quiet and peaceful village was transformed when on 13th of April the Pakistani Army suddenly invaded the village and killed over 100 unarmed men. This massacre was the largest atrocity in the Rajshahi District during the war. With the destruction of the male heads of household, the families in the village faced certain destitution and hopelessness. In 1973, the Swedish organization, The Swallows, hearing of the massacre and the resultant desperation of the survivors, began a relief program on 1st October 1973, named The Swallows Association for Social Voluntary Service, Thanapara Project. The following year, a primary school for poor children and a handicraft program for the war-affected women of the village were started. The Swallows, Sweden, funded both of these programs. In 1985, The Village Development Program was started to further develop the existing programs and to find ways to broaden the programs’ activities supporting mostly female residents of the village. Since 1999 Thanapara Swallows is fully independent.